Participatory economics, or parecon, came mainly from the cumulative struggles of diverse populations trying to win liberation from capitalism. Parecon owes, in particular, to the anarchist and the libertarian socialist heritage, to the most recent experiences of the New Left of the Sixties, but also to every historical uprising and project aimed at eliminating class rule from the beginning to the present. It has learned from successes and from failures.

You might rightly be wondering where this idea came from and if it’s feasible. North Dakota, the only state in the country with budget surpluses and a booming economy, has had such a bank for 90 years and is a primary reason why the state is in such good fiscal shape. North Dakota has the approximate population of Baltimore city – 600,000. Over the last 10 years, their state bank has returned a third of a billion dollars back to the state’s general fund to offset taxes and help with funding public sector needs and that’s in addition to its lending.